ACCOUNTING TO THE PEOPLE…. PAGE 20 – 25

We are back and wish to thank readers for their suggestions and concerns via our mails while we went on this short break. We have so far exhausted the accounts given by the president on the educational sector and it tells how the quality and access to education has improved massively under this government. The next sector we are going to look at is the HEALTH SECTOR.

Any ill-health to the body or mind is deemed a defeat hence good health is deemed victory and for a nation to be victorious in all aspects, the health of the people must be a priority of all governments. It is in this light that we are going to scrutinize the works of President Mahama in the health sector to determine if he’s leading Ghana to victory or defeat in terms of good health for the masses.

The almost 100% increase in the out-patient utilization of the NHIS in 2014 (29.6 million) as compared to 597,000 in 2013 is enough to tell us that more people need access to health facilities and government’s effort to add about 6,000 new hospital beds to existing ones is a step in the right direction as it strive to ensure victory is the portion of Ghana in terms of health.

Some of the projects undertaken by government to ensure that these 6,000 new hospital beds become a reality are the 617-bed University of Ghana Teaching Hospital, the 400 bed second phase of Tamale Teaching hospital expansion project, the 420-bed Ridge Hospital expansion project, the 386-bed Bolgatanga hospital, the 250-bed Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua-Kumasi, the 160-bed Upper West Regional Hospital, 7 district hospitals each with a capacity of 120 beds at Dodowa, Abetifi, Kumasi, Fomena, etc, 6 district hospitals with a 60-bed capacity each at Tepa, Konongo, Salaga, etc, the 100-bed Madina Hospital, the 120-bed Bekwai hospital, the 500-bed Military Hospital in Kumasi among others. We will take our time to elaborate the categories under which these hospitals fall in subsequent episodes.

One thing that got this team amazed and made us applaud this government while putting this piece together is the 10% salary deduction of the president and all his appointees towards the building of CHPS compounds in rural areas to ensure that the people in such areas have access to good healthcare closer to them and don’t have to move many miles away to the next town when they need healthcare.

We all kept asking ourselves which government since 2000 had found a way to make its appointees give back to the citizens what they contribute to pay the salaries of various presidents and government appointees like this Mahama – Amissah Arthur government is doing? We will be glad if readers can help us find answers to this question.

We draw the curtains on this piece with the introduction of the Onuador Mobile Health Vans which takes healthcare to the doorsteps of the people. This is an innovative way of helping people get access to quality healthcare at their doorstep and we give government a thumbs up for taking such great steps in the health sector. The Onuador project would attend to eye problems, as well as other health needs of the people of rural areas.

If good health is deemed victory, then from the aforementioned steps taken by government in the health sector, we can confidently say that it is leading Ghana to an unprecedented victory.